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A Letter From Our President: Respect, Appreciate & Value Everyone
“What the world needs now is RAVE, sweet RAVE…”
RAVE: Respect, Appreciate and Value Everyone
This core value has always run deep at Nugget Markets because we are not just a company, but a family of diverse and wonderful people. Our hearts break for George Floyd’s family and all those affected by this tragic and shameful loss. As my grandfather (cofounder of Nugget Markets) always said and believed, “There is only one race… the human race!”
My hope is that through this tragedy, our nation will wake up and see we have serious embedded prejudices that need to be addressed, and that we must all take responsibility for our own actions and words. In order to break this cycle of prejudice, we as a nation must become one big family that Respects, Appreciates and Values Everyone. America needs to end its systemic prejudice against people of color. According to the Pledge of Allegiance, we are all one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. It’s time for those words to ring true.
Our nation is great because of the diversity it once embraced. However, it made a fatal flaw in justifying slavery almost 250 years ago and we are still paying the price for that disastrous action. If any good is to come from George Floyd’s death, it will be as a wake-up call. Our country is currently suffering from two viruses and this is our opportunity to triumph over both: COVID-19 and racism. I hope this horrific tragedy helps us take off the blinders once and for all and realize we have a lot of work to do. It all begins by treating everyone with RAVE and a whole lot of love.
I would like to share some wise words from one of the world’s greatest:
Yesterday in the LA Times, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote: “I don’t want to see stores looted or even buildings burn. But African Americans have been living in a burning building for many years, choking on the smoke as flames burn closer and closer. Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible—even if you’re choking on it—until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air.” Violence in any form has no place in the beloved community we want to build. Nor does silence in the face of injustice.
In closing, I challenge everyone to spread the word about the value of RAVE and family, because we need them both now more than ever.
Sincerely,
Eric Stille
President/CEO
Nugget Market, Inc.